


Red Dirt Road

by storyofeden



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-30
Updated: 2012-01-30
Packaged: 2017-10-30 09:28:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/330253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storyofeden/pseuds/storyofeden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Their life wasn't perfect, and neither was their love. But the soundtrack was just right.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red Dirt Road

**Author's Note:**

> This fic wouldn't leave me alone. So I wrote it. It took me 2.5 hours and I'm currently nauseated from too much coffee and chocolate. I'm sure the dayquil contributed as well.
> 
> I tagged underage for one reason. In one scene, a character is 14. It's NOT raunchy or distasteful. I mean, come on, the rating is only T.

**_We'd walk to Church on Sunday mornings,_ **

**_Race barefoot back to Johnson's fence._ **

**_That's where I first saw Mary,_ **

**_On that roadside pickin' blackberries._ **

**_That summer I turned a corner in my soul,_ **

**_Down that red dirt road._ **

 

The four boys, two sets of brothers, had grown up together. Dean and Sam had moved in one summer, and when Cas and Gabriel decided they’d all be friends, there was no arguing. From that point on, they were inseparable. They all walked begrudgingly to church or school every morning, and ran back to their hideout afterwards, shoes in hand, paying no mind to the red dirt being kicked up all over their clothes.

Sam, being the youngest at 7, often felt left out, but Gabriel, the oldest, always made sure he was included. It didn’t matter that he was almost 13, or that Dean and Cas were 9 and 10, respectively. They had fun, and they were family. That was what mattered.

 

**_Goin barefoot and crazy_ **

**_Me and my baby_ **

**_Backflip off the flipright bridge_ **

**_Double dog dare me and I will_ **

**_Meet me at the bottom with a cool wet kiss_ **

**_…_ **

**_My hearts skippin like a rock across that water_ **

**_Don't ever wanna stop_ **

**_Goin barefoot and crazy_ **

 

Sam had been begging to go down to the river since school let out. He was still young, 14, and still had that boyish need to explore and have fun. Cas and Dean, though, couldn’t care less. They’d hit the driving years and preferred to cruise and pick up chicks. Which left Gabriel, and even though he was 20, he refused to leave home before the others did. It kinda sucked that he was so much older, but that also meant that he got to be the babysitter and the bad influence. And, in this case, the only person who got to see Sam in a bathing suit.

It wasn’t as though Gabriel was going to do anything about his attraction to Sam, the boy was practically his brother, but he was also just that: a boy. He was still having growing pains from shooting up like a Sasquatch, and his voice still cracked from time to time. Still, Gabriel couldn’t imagine loving anyone else. So he opted instead to stay in the friend zone, knowing he would always be needed.

They went to the lake, just the two of them. Gabriel jumped in first, of course, and then dared Sam to swing off the rope attached to a low-hanging tree. Apparently, Sam had different ideas and before he knew it, Gabriel found him standing on the ledge of the bridge. Sure, the bridge was located over a particularly deep part of the river. Sure, he had done it himself hundreds of times, but that didn’t mean Sam was allowed. It was dangerous, after all.

“Hey Gabriel! Watch this!” the boy yelled before jumping off the bridge, performing the perfect back flip, and landing in the water. When he didn’t come up immediately, Gabriel panicked.

“Sam!” he screamed, swimming over to where he last saw him. “Sam!”

The voice came from directly behind him. “Chillax, Gabe. I’m right here.”

Gabriel turned around, and kissed him. Sure, he was 20 and Sam was 14. Sure, they were in the middle of a river and desperately treading water, but Gabriel didn’t care. He put all his pent-up emotion into the kiss, along with his anger and frustration and fear.

“Don’t you ever, ever scare me like that again. And I don’t care if I sound like your parent right now, deal with it.”

Both boys were silent for a moment. Then Sam finally piped up, “Can I do it again?”

Gabriel looked at him as though he’d grown three heads. “The backflip?”

Sam just shook his head. “Kiss you.”

Their brothers, of course, had made fun of them mercilessly for months after it happened, but Sam and Gabriel didn’t care. It wasn’t any of their business, anyway. The few days following the river had been awkward as hell, but they had finally sat down and talked about it. Even though Sam was ready to jump in full force with both feet, Gabriel had made him stop. They’d finally made a decision. Well, Gabriel decided and Sam couldn’t really do anything about it. If, when he turned 17, they still felt that way about each other, then they would try, but he refused to do anything before Sam turned 17.

Thus it was ruled.

 

**_I don't want to mess this thing up_ **

**_I don't wanna push too far_ **

**_Just a shot in the dark that_ **

**_You just might be the one_ **

**_I've been waiting for my whole life_ **

**_So baby I'm alright with just a kiss goodnight_ **

 

On Sam’s 17th birthday, he and Gabriel had their first date. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it was so very them that it was perfect. Gabriel made popcorn and cookies. Sam brought them each a soda, and they sat out by the river, watching the moonlight bounce off the waves. They laughed until their stomachs hurt, and talked about whatever came to mind. In all honesty, it was the kind of thing they did all the time, but it was…different that night. There was a different air about both of them. It simultaneously made Sam nervous and gave him butterflies.

On the way back to Sam’s house, they walked slowly down the old dirt road hand in hand. When they stopped at the doorway, Sam fidgeted.

“You can…come in if you want.” He was blushing all the way up to his ears.

Whether he meant it as a friend or more, Gabriel wasn’t sure, but he still declined. “I’d rather not, Sammy.” At the disappointed look he received, Gabe continued. “It’s just…We’ve been friends for years, so it’s not a big deal, but…it’s different now, alright? I don’t…wanna move to fast. I don’t wanna mess it up.”

Sam smiled and leaned in to kiss Gabriel. The kiss was soft and slow and he damn near flashbacked to that day three years ago.

“Goodnight, Gabriel,” he whispered before going inside and shutting the door behind him. As he walked to his house, Gabriel could hear Dean and Cas snickering from their spot on the fence.

“Get lucky, Gabe?” Cas snickered.

“Ew! He was with my brother, Cas! That’s gross.” It resulted in a friendly fist fight and Gabriel couldn’t help but laugh.

 

**_Whole world could change in a minute_ **

**_Just one kiss could stop this spinning_ **

**_We could think it through_ **

**_But I don't want to, if you don't want to_ **

**_We could keep things just the same_ **

**_Leave here the way we came, with nothing to lose_ **

**_But I don't want to, if you don't want to_ **

**_But I want to…_ **

**_But I want you…_ **

 

The night Sam graduated high school was a bit of a…turning point, to say the least. They could all move on, now. Sure, the four boys could have separated long before that, but it had never actually crossed their minds. It was so natural to stay together, they just did.

The big graduation party was happening at some jock’s house on the other side of town, but that wasn’t really Sam’s scene. Of course, Dean and Cas had gone, but Gabriel knew that neither of them were interested in the now-of-age chicks. Hopefully, some alcohol would get them both to make out with each other and get it all over with.

Gabriel was still grinning at the idea when he turned onto the red dirt road to find it completely washed out. And as much as he loved his beat up Chevy, there was no way she was gonna make it the mile down to the houses. So, Gabriel back out onto the main road and pulled off to the side, killing the engine.

“I guess we’re stuck here till the storm passes, huh?” Sam grinned.

“Unless you feel like walking, I’d say that was the case.”

A few moments of silence, filled with Sam fidgeting nervously, passed before Gabriel couldn’t take it any longer. “Whatcha thinkin, kid?”

“Um…” Sam blushed, and then looked at Gabriel directly. “I…I want to.”

Of course, he knew exactly what Sam was saying, but he wanted to make sure he was hearing it right. “You want to…what?”

“Jesus, Gabriel,” Sam couldn’t help but smile in his frustration. “I want to…you know…”

Gabriel just looked at him…waiting for him to go on.

“I mean…It’s not like I’m a virgin. And now’s like…the perfect opportunity cause it’s all raining and cozy and Dean and Cas aren’t around to ruin it and I love you and—”

“You love me?” Gabriel asked in wonder.

“Yeah…”

“Then okay…”

 

**_Fall into me_ **

**_My arms are opened wide_ **

**_And you don’t have to say a word_ **

**_Cuz I already see_ **

**_That it’s hard_ **

**_And you're scared_ **

**_And you’re tired_ **

**_And it hurts_ **

**_And I wanna be the one you reach for first_ **

 

“Sam, stop…” Gabriel whimpered. Sam was sitting in the middle of the bench seat, with Gabriel straddling him. He was gripping the smaller man’s hips, raising them above his cock.

Sam groaned, hiding his face in the crook of Gabriel’s neck. “You’re killing me here, Gabe.”

“Please…”

The sheer emotion in his voice caused Sam to look up. There were tears sparkling in his eyes.

“Shit, what’s wrong? Did I hurt you?” Sam panicked.

Gabriel just shook his head. “No…No I just…I’ve never done this before.”

Sam went stock still. “You…what?”

“I…have never had sex before.”

“But…But…” Sam sputtered. “But you’re always bragging and telling Dean how—”

“Well yeah…I just couldn’t let your brother win. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of being the biggest man whore.”

“Gabriel…” Sam moved one hand from his hip to cup his cheek. “It’s okay…we don’t have to do anything. We can stop here.”

“No Sam, it’s just…” He faded out.

“I love you, Gabriel. That’s not going to change.”

Gabriel nodded, tears trailing wet paths down his face.

“Keep going, Sam. I want you.”

“Gabriel…”

 

**_You can forget what love was wearing_ **

**_When it walked out your front door_ **

**_Where you fell down to your knees_ **

**_And you can forget the kind of suitcase_ **

**_That was packed out on the sidewalk_ **

**_While you cried there beggin' please_ **

**_But love remembers_ **

****

**_Cause love remembers_ **

**_The smell of a summer day_ **

**_Lying in a hammock over fresh cut grass_ **

**_And the promise of forever_ **

**_Yeah love remembers_ **

**_The sound of the pouring rain_ **

**_Beatin' down on the top of a car_ **

**_On the side of the road_ **

**_Where it couldn't wait_ **

**_Yeah love remembers_ **

 

“Sam…I’m asking you not to leave!” Gabriel yelled. He’s sure that their brothers could hear them by now, but he didn’t care. Might as well make it a family affair.

“And I’m saying that I have to! It’s Stanford, Gabriel. I can’t just give that up!”

“I did!”

The room went still. “What…?” Sam managed to say.

“I did. I gave up Stanford.”

“When?” he asked. Yeah, it was a dumb question, but Sam couldn’t really process anything right now.

“When do you think? I was 18, sure, but it wasn’t like I could leave! Not with Cas just learning to drive and Dean figuring out girls exist and…and…”

“And me…But Gabriel, I was 12.”

“And I’ve been in love with you for forever! So no, I couldn’t leave. I gave it up. I told my future goodbye because I loved you too much to go.”

Once again, the only sound in the room was their labored breathing. Gabriel was upset, sure, but Sam was pissed, bordering on livid.

“I never asked you to do that, Gabriel. I never asked you to give all that up.”

“But I did it for you, Sammy. Because I love you. Please. Do that same for me.”

Sam sighed and picked up his last suitcase. “If you really loved me? You wouldn’t be asking me to stay.”

 

**_Look at them boys in the back of that truck_ **

**_Somebody ought to jerk a knot in their butts_ **

**_Out ridin' around like they own this town_ **

**_That racket turned all the way up_ **

****

**_Them boys don't know one thing about life_ **

**_True love or trouble, struggle or strife_ **

**_They think it's all just fun and games_ **

**_Like laws and rules or balls and chains_ **

 

 ** _Treatin' little girls like hearts don't break_**  

**_Treatin' old men like hands don't shake_ **

**_I pray it's just a phase they're goin' through_ **

**_Yeah but what are we gonna do with them boys_ **

 

Gabriel ended up as a school bus driver. He hated it, but then, it wasn’t as if he had the mentality level appropriate for grownups, so kids it was. He drove the bus every weekday, and the school system let him use it on weekends to haul people to and from the train station and various other places.

It was a Sunday, and his bus was unusually empty, only a couple of young boys and a man whom Gabriel didn’t recognize. It was strange, because the man looked to be about 30, and Gabriel knew everyone, but he let it pass. Perhaps the man was just passing through. At an old dirt road, the one Gabriel used to live on in fact, the two boys got off. He sat for a moment, making sure the barefoot boys made it at least halfway down the lane. Sure, this was a safe neighborhood, and sure, he used to do it all the time, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t be responsible and make sure they were safe.

“Boys will be boys, won’t they?” The stranger said.

Gabriel merely glanced at him in the rearview mirror before responding. “Yep. Those are my brother’s kids. Heaven help him, they act just like I did at that age.”

“I bet they’re trouble then, huh?”

“Yeah…Man, when my friends and I were that age or a little older, we made so much hell…It’s a surprise we got this far.”

“I’m sure you’re exaggerating.” The man countered. Of course, Gabriel was. But he wasn’t going to tell him that.

“Nah. We were rabble rousers. The four of us use to ride around in my old Chevy, smoking cigarettes and listening to Alabama.” That much, at least, was true.

“Looks like you made it out of that phase…”

“Look, man. Where are you headed? Cause I don’t have all day, and I’m guessing you don’t want to go back to the train station, considering I just picked you up from there.”

“I’m…um.” The man stuttered and ran a hand across the back of his neck. “I’m actually looking for Dean? Dean Winchester?”

Gabriel’s back stiffened. “He lives down this road. Probably where those boys were headed.”

“Oh. Alright, then I’ll just…” The man got off the bus quickly and made is way slowly down to the two houses at the end of the drive. Gabriel eyed him suspiciously.

 

**_And all my friends say_ **

**_I started shooting doubles_ **

**_When you walked in_ **

**_All my friends say_ **

**_I went a little crazy_ **

**_Seeing you with him_ **

**_You know I don't remember a thing_ **

**_But they say I sure was raising some Cain_ **

**_I was a rock star, party hard,_ **

**_Getting over you comeback kid_ **

**_Yeah, I must have did_ **

**_What all my friends say_ **

 

Gabriel woke up with a scowl on his face and a headache the size of Russia. Last night, he admitted, was a mistake. He’d been perfectly content having a beer with Dean, while Castiel at home watching the kids, when Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome stranger walked in the bar. He looked familiar, now that he got a look at him that wasn’t through a grungy bus mirror, but he couldn’t quite place him.

Taken aback when the man sauntered over and sat at their table, Gabriel downed his drink and quickly ordered another.

“Hey Dean,” The man nodded, and then turned his attention to him. “Hello Gabriel.”

Recognition hit him like a brick wall. “Sam?!”

“The one and only.” Was his response.

Without another word, Gabriel stood, went to the bar, ordered enough tequila to drown an elephant, and took one shot after another. He didn’t have to look back to know Sam was watching him.

 

**_I've learned; I come to know,_ **

**_There's life at both ends,_ **

**_Of that red dirt road._ **

****

**_I went out into the world,_ **

**_An' I came back in._ **

**_I lost Mary:_ **

**_Oh, I got her back again._ **

**_An' drivin' home tonight,_ **

**_Feels like I've found a long-lost friend._ **

****

**_Down that red dirt road._ **

 

Sam hated himself. He’d hated himself for years, ever since he left for Stanford 15 years ago. And you’d think that a 33 year old man would know that there’s no use crying over spilt milk, metaphorically speaking. But here was Sam, sitting in the middle of the kitchen at Dean and Cas’s house, crying because he’d dropped his bowl of cereal and there was milk all over the floor. It wasn’t normal, he knew that. But Sam couldn’t get past the fact that it was such a metaphor for his life.

How, he wasn’t quite sure, but it was something along the lines of the bowl being Gabriel, the milk being love, and dropping it being Stanford. Of course, where the Apple Jacks fit in, he didn’t know.

His brother’s cat, named Zepplin, of course, had wandered in and was feasting on the newly found mess when Gabriel rushed through the screen door.

“Dean? Cas!? Is everything—” His words stopped the moment he laid eyes on Sam sitting leaning against the stove, milk creating a moat around him.

Sam kept his head down, new tears threatening to fall. Gabriel shuffled his feet awkwardly and bit his lip. The only one not pushing awkward to new extremes was Zepplin, who had a newly found appreciation for Apple Jacks.

“I’m sorry…” Sam murmured. Neither one knew whether it was for the mess in the kitchen or the mess that was college, but it was out there nonetheless.

“Hey…” Gabriel knelt down, bare feet settling in the milk puddle. His hand gently cupped Sam’s cheek. “It’s okay…”

Sam just nodded, shedding more tears.

Gabriel had no idea what hit him. Maybe it was Zepplin, who continued his lapping. Maybe it was the knowledge that Sam still ate Apple Jacks. Maybe it was the knowledge that Sam was literally crying over spilt milk. Gabriel just leaned in and kissed Sam gently on the lips.

It felt like coming home.

 

**_This one is my favorite one_ **

**_This is me and grandpa in the summer sun_ **

**_All dressed up the day we said our vows_ **

**_You can’t tell it here but it was hot that June_ **

**_That rose was red and his eyes were green_ **

**_And just look at that smile I was so proud_ **

****

**_That’s the story of my life_ **

**_Right there in black and white_ **

****

**_And if it looks like we were scared to death_ **

**_Like a couple of kids just trying to save each other_ **

**_You should have seen it in color_ **

 

Gabriel sat on the couch in his and Sam’s home, bouncing one of their grandchildren on his knees. He claimed that 60 was too young to be a grandpa to a 6 year old, but Sam insisted that it was perfectly fine.

“PawPaw?” the little one asked. Why he had to be PawPaw while Sam got Granddad, he will never know. “What’s this one?”

He was pointing to a simple black and white picture. He and Sam were standing at the end of the dirt road, the houses behind him. Both men were looking at the camera, but it was obvious neither of them was focused on the photographer. With arms wrapped around each other, it was clear they’d much rather be alone.

“That, my boy, is the day Granddad Sam and I got married.”

The little boy ooh’d and aah’d as if it was the most fascinating thing ever. Gabriel supposed it was, for the youngin had never seen them as anything but…old.

He sighed, shut the photo book, and put the little one down on the floor. “Run along, now. Go see how long it takes you to run from here to the end of the road and back.” The boy’s eyes lit up, and he was off.

“You spoil him.” Sam said, sitting down beside Gabriel. “He’s gonna turn out just like we did.”

“Is that so bad?” he asked petulantly, but there was a teasing glint in his eyes.

“Not at all. I love you, Gabriel.”

“I love you too, Sammy.”

**Author's Note:**

> The Soundtrack: In order of appearance.
> 
> Red Dirt Road -- Brooks & Dunn  
> Barefoot & Crazy -- Jack Ingram  
> Just a Kiss -- Lady Antebellum  
> Want To -- Sugarland  
> Fall Into Me -- Sugarland  
> Love Remembers -- Craig Morgan  
> Them Boys -- Brantley Gilbert  
> All My Friends Say -- Luke Bryan  
> Red Dirt Road -- Brooks & Dunn  
> In Color -- Jamey Johnson


End file.
